


Christmas at the Castellanos'

by GloriaGilbertPatch



Category: The Mindy Project
Genre: F/M, Gen, TMP Secret Santa, TMP Secret Santa Fic Exchange 2014
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-23
Updated: 2014-12-23
Packaged: 2018-03-03 01:35:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,363
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2833319
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GloriaGilbertPatch/pseuds/GloriaGilbertPatch
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mindy and Danny and Christmas and kids. That's about it. My secret santa present for @crossedties on tumblr.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Christmas at the Castellanos'

**Author's Note:**

  * For [freetolive603](https://archiveofourown.org/users/freetolive603/gifts).



“Are you ready for tomorrow? I’m not ready for tomorrow.”

“What are you talking about, Danny? We’ve literally been preparing for this for months. Of course I’m ready for tomorrow.”

“You know there’s no way the girls are gonna let us sleep in. There’s no way, you know that, right?” Mindy rolled her eyes.

“They’re three years old and it’s Christmas morning, of course they’re not going to let us sleep in. That’s part of the fun, old man.” Danny sighed.

“I know. I’m just exhausted, Min. Remember sleeping late on Christmas morning, waking up at ten and having coffee and Ma’s cinnamon rolls?”

“And sex. Don’t forget the sex.” He closed his eyes and groaned.

“I’m guessing you’re not going to be up for that at 4:30 in the morning?”

“I am not.” She grinned then and tousled her husband’s hair affectionately. “And stop whining, Danny, I know you’re excited about this, too.”

“I know, I know,” he grumbled, leaning into her touch a little. “Remind me again why _I_ have to wrap all the gifts?”

“Because you’re better at it than I am, silly,” Mindy pointed out lightly. “Do you really want to give your little girls gifts that I wrapped?”

“Okay, okay, you’re right. I’ll wrap the gifts. You’ll eat Santa’s cookies and drink his hot cocoa and maybe keep me company, and we’ll be in bed in an hour.”

\--

An hour later, they were decidedly _not_ in bed.

“It’s the stupid dollhouse, Mindy, we should have just let the guy from the store build it.”

“And by we you mean you. I don’t remember _my_ having any objection.”

“Fine. _I_ should have let the guy from the store build the dollhouse, but come on, Min, it’s a dollhouse for a couple of three-year-olds. It wasn’t supposed to be this hard! I’m a medical doctor, for Christ’s sake, this should be easy!”

“Okay, okay, calm down,” Mindy offered soothingly, sitting down next to him and patting his shoulder. “Where are the instructions?”

“I, um…I might’ve thrown them away.”

“ _Danny!_ Did you not learn anything from Riley’s bunk bed?”

“Hey, come on, it’s not like Jade and Annie are going to be climbing all over this thing; it just has to support the weight of the dolls and the doll…stuff.”

“Uh-huh. And can it do that, Danny?” He sighed.

“Maybe we should fish the directions out of the trash.”

“I love the way you use the word ‘we.’”

Another hour later the dollhouse was, if not fully constructed, properly and safely assembled, and Mindy was ready to go to sleep.

“Come on, babe,” she said, her voice heavy with affection as she gently tugged her husband away from the Christmas tree. “Time for bed.”

“I still think it needs more work.”

“Oh my God, Danny, this is not your gingerbread house. Part of the fun for the girls will be decorating it themselves. That’s, like, why little girls like dollhouses, so they can get away from their parents’ – and by parents’, I mean your – taste in home furnishings.”

“Are you sure? I don’t want them to be disappointed.”

“Yes, honey, I am sure. Look, it’s Christmas Eve. It’s one in the morning. Come to bed. I have _never_ had to say that to you twice before.” He smiled a little, because it was an exaggeration but only a slight one.

“Okay, let’s go to bed. Hey, Min – merry Christmas.” She furrowed her brow for a moment and then remembered the time.

“Merry Christmas, Danny,” she answered, leading him into the bedroom before settling a sweet kiss on his mouth. “I love you.”

His face softened and his eyes crinkled as he looked at her, looked at her as if she were the only person in the world who mattered, and Mindy knew that even if it was late, and even if their daughters would have them up early in the morning, they weren’t going to sleep just yet.

And no matter how much Danny complained about the girls’ tendency to wake him up when all he wanted was to sleep in, it was his fault, really. He left the door to their bedroom open as much as he responsibly could, and really, he was a terrible actor. It was painfully, adorably obvious how thrilled he was when Jade or Annie climbed into bed and into his arms, so much that Mindy didn’t even mind that her daughters preferred to be daddy’s little girls rather than mommy’s little darlings. They’d be teenagers one day, and young women, and that would be her chance to shine. In the meantime she’d happily play second fiddle to see the joy on Danny’s face at how much he was loved.

\--

At six o’clock in the morning Mindy startled awake at the sound of little feet running unsubtly over the rug and braced herself for the kicking and wriggling that would ensue once her babies had made their way into her bed. She didn’t have to wait long. Jade landed awkwardly, knocking the wind out of her, and Annie’s foot pushed painfully into her rib cage, but it was Christmas morning, and the three people she loved most in the world were all in bed with her, and so she could take the abuse.

Danny’s eyes flickered open as Jade rubbed her small hand over his chin and along his jaw, fascinated as always by the rough pokiness of Daddy’s face in the morning.

“Hey, baby,” he said, smiling lazily at the little girl who looked back at him with Mindy’s exuberant excitement in his own eyes. “Merry Christmas.”

“Merry Chris’mas, Daddy!” she answered in chorus with her sister, who scrambled over from her position between her parents to snuggle up against Daddy.

“Merry Christmas, Jade, Annie…Daddy,” Mindy added with a grin – Danny wasn’t wild about calling each other Mommy and Daddy, but they were still in the habit of it from when the girls first learned to talk. “Did you sleep well?” Both girls grinned and nodded and reached out their arms to hug Mindy, too.

“Come here, babe, you, too,” she added, and Danny scrambled to sit up and then they were embracing with both girls between them. “I love you guys so much, you know that? I love you _all_ so much.”

\--

Mindy had chosen beautiful Christmas dresses for both girls well over a month before, but unsurprisingly they had been quickly relegated to Christmas dinner at Grandma’s and opening presents had been determined a pajamas affair. At Danny’s example, they had at least agreed to put on their plaid bathrobes, so the pictures would be adorable even without the dresses.

“Okay, smile, guys,” she said cheerfully, trying to pretend her heart hadn’t melted completely at the sight of each of her daughters commandeering one of Danny’s knees. They smiled immediately, grins full of baby teeth and faces teeming with excitement and happiness, and she caught Danny’s eyes. He smiled, too, slowly and lazily but so big and so happy that her heart caught in her throat as she snapped the picture. Once they’d seen the flash the girls jumped off Daddy’s lap and ran into the living room to get a look at the tree. Danny chuckled a little and walked over to his wife, folding her contentedly in his arms.

“Merry Christmas, sweetheart,” he said softly, “again.” She smiled.

“Merry Christmas.”

They stood there a moment as Mindy rested her head against him, enjoying the steady beat of his heart in her ear.

“I love you, Dan,” she said softly into his chest hair. “I love you so much, and I love our girls, and I love you more for giving them to me.” He chuckled so softly that she felt more than heard it, and bent to kiss the top of her head.

“I love you, too, Min,” he answered, tightening his arms around her waist. “You and the girls make me so happy, you know that? I’m so happy.” She smiled and looked up to find his lips, catching them in a long, hot kiss before they headed out to have Christmas morning as a family.


End file.
